Japan joinIng pocket tourney?

MANILA, Philippines — There’s a possibility that Japan may play in a pocket tournament with Gilas and two PBA teams before the start of the FIBA Asia Cup third qualifying window at Clark on June 14-20 if its group is confirmed to join the bubble. Clark will host two groups in the window – Group A with the Philippines, South Korea, Indonesia and Thailand and tentatively, Group B with Japan, China, Chinese-Taipei and Malaysia.

Initially, the Philippines was slated to host its group and Group C (Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong and Guam) last February but that was reset to March with Group B replacing Group C. The March schedule has now been pushed forward to June. For Gilas, it will serve as a warm-up for the Olympic Qualifying Tournament (OQT) in Belgrade on June 29-July 4.

SBP president Al Panlilio confirmed that if the March schedule pushed through, Group B would’ve joined Group A in Clark. “Those were the groups if we hosted in March,” he said. “Not sure though if FIBA will replace Group B with another one for the June window. We’re waiting for their announcement.” Panlilio added that the plan is for Gilas to head straight to Belgrade after the third window. SBP is exploring options for Gilas to train overseas but Panlilio said “finding international stints might be difficult due to travel restrictions.”

The Gilas pool entered the Inspire bubble in Calamba yesterday to train for a month with project director Tab Baldwin and a coaching staff made up of Jong Uichico, Caloy Garcia, Sandy Arespacochaga, Boyet Fernandez, Alton Lister and Gabby Severino. From the pool will be chosen the players to represent the country in the third window and the OQT. Among the players were the four rookies chosen in the PBA special draft the other day (Jordan Heading, Will Navarro, Tzaddy Rangel, Jaydee Tungcab). Panlilio said the team that will play in the third window and the OQT may also battle in the FIBA Asia Cup in Jakarta on Aug. 16-28 but it’s still up for discussion.

Japan has played only once in two FIBA Asia Cup qualifying windows so far, beating Chinese-Taipei, 96-57, in February last year. Coach Julio Lamas’ squad unveiled a new naturalized player, 6-9 Ryan Rossiter of Siena College, New York. Rossiter, 31, is a veteran who has played in the Japanese league since 2013. Also in the lineup were Japanese-Brazilian Leo Vendrame, Japanese-American Avi Schafer of Georgia Tech, the Takeuchi twins Joji and Kosuke, Makoto Hiejima, Daiki Tanaka and Kosuke Kanamaru. For the third window, Japan may be reinforced by NBA players Rui Hachimura of Washington and Yuta Watanabe of Toronto. The NBA regular season ends May 16 and it doesn’t look like either the Wizards or Raptors will make the playoffs.